California Legislature is back to decide 1,300 bills
By Lynn La,
2024-08-05
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The California Legislature gets back to work today, starting a one-month sprint to adjournment on Aug. 31.
Lawmakers have a lot to finish up: More than 1,300 bills are still in play, though many will not reach Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk. One high-profile measure is Assembly Bill 1825 , which would prohibit library review committees . As CalMatters Capitol reporter Alexei Koseff explains, the bill would require California public libraries to detail their policies for choosing books, including a plan to allow residents to voice their objections, but libraries cannot ban material because it deals with race or sexuality.
The measure comes amid a culture war that includes parental rights groups who want to limit access to gender-identity content and other materials. They’re facing off against LGBTQ advocates who say it’s important to have library books about marginalized groups available to the public.
A handful of local officials have already attempted to establish book review committees, such as Fresno County.
A Newsom spokesperson would not comment on pending legislation. But last year, the governor signed a law to prevent school boards from banning books based solely on the books’ inclusion of the history or culture of LGBTQ people and other underrepresented ethnic, cultural and religious groups.
Authored by Assemblymember Jasmeet Bains , a Bakersfield Democrat and California’s only Sikh state lawmaker, the bill is in response to a June 2023 killing of a Sikh activist in Canada . The measure lists Russia, China, Iran and India as governments that “increasingly rely” on transnational repression to control dissidents abroad. Law enforcement agencies, including the California State Sheriff’s Association, support the bill.
But some leading conservative Hindu activists are pushing back against the measure. They want to strike India from the bill language, arguing that the bill risks overlooking violence committed by Sikh separatists.
AB 2918 : The Jewish Public Affairs Committee of California and other supporters are expected to rally at the state Capitol today in support of a bill to expand disclosure requirements for school districts when implementing ethnic studies courses.
AB 2316 : Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel , an Encino Democrat, plans to drum up support for his bill to ban six food dyes from food in California public schools at an online press conference Tuesday.
California voters will get to see the two main U.S. Senate candidates face off in a televised debate before the November election.
Late Friday, Rep. Adam Schiff, the Burbank Democrat who is way ahead in the polls , announced that he’s agreed to a debate hosted by ABC7 Los Angeles and the League of Women Voters California.
Republican Steve Garvey agreed to that one earlier last week. No date has been announced, and there’s no word on the second debate that Garvey wanted. Garvey and Schiff debated three times before the March 5 primary, along with Democratic Reps. Barbara Lee and Katie Porter.
Schiff , in a statement: “This fourth debate will be another chance for Californians to hear about my vision for our state, and my plans to tackle our toughest challenges. From lowering the cost of housing, gas and food, to expanding access to quality childcare and healthcare, to protecting our rights and democracy — the difference in this race could not be more stark.”
On one key issue — immigration — Garvey isn’t toeing the party line.
The former L.A. Dodgers star dodged the Republican National Convention last month, and now he’s distancing himself from the GOP policy platform that calls for the mass deportation of undocumented immigrants , as directed by former President Donald Trump.
Garvey , in a commentary published Friday in La Opinión : “Illegal immigration is also blatantly unfair to the millions of hard-working immigrants who came to the United States legally and now call California home. However, the mass deportation of the 11 million undocumented immigrants living in our country is not a realistic solution. Fixing the immigration issue is more complex.”
Instead, Garvey said he would take a “comprehensive approach” to immigration — beefing up security at the U.S.-Mexico border, then accelerating family-based green card applications and more.
On Friday, oil and gas company Chevron said it will relocate its California headquarters from San Ramon to Houston — a move that set off political flares among both parties.
But Chevron’s relocation is going to most immediately impact its CEO and vice chairman , who will both move to Texas before the end of the year. Of the 2,000 employees who work in the San Ramon headquarters (compared to 7,000 Chevron employees already working in the Houston area), only those with “corporate functions” will move to Houston over the next five years.
No California manufacturing, production or other oil operations Chevron jobs are heading to Texas as of yet, and the company will still have a large presence in the state where it was founded more than a century ago. Chevron will continue to operate its two massive oil refineries in Richmond and El Segundo (where the company says it employs about 4,600 workers and contractors), its oil fields in Kern County and its 1,800 gas stations across the state.
Still, this didn’t stop some Republicans from seizing the news as yet another example of the state’s environmental and business overregulation. Especially since the announcement comes on the heels of tech billionaire Elon Musk’s threat to relocate the headquarters of X and SpaceX from California to Texas.
Meanwhile, following the announcement, Newsom posted — then quickly removed — a video touting legislation he pushed last year to investigate alleged price gouging from oil companies , reports Politico . Newsom spokesperson Alex Stack also said that the relocation “is the logical culmination of a long process that has repeatedly been foreshadowed by Chevron,” and that California is “the leading creator of clean energy jobs.”
The tech industry’s argument that a bill to regulate artificial intelligence will drive out innovation from California is misleading, hollow and dangerous, writes Sunny Gandhi , vice president of political affairs at Encode Justice.
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